A SMARTER WAY?
THE LATEST PROJECT FROM CLINT MOORE
This month’s “creation” belongs to Ron Jones of Topeka, Kansas. With all the talk and new requirements about trucks and their trailers being aerodynamic and SmartWay-certified, it begs to ask the question: is it SmartWay or just a smarter way? Efficiency is the name of the game today - if you can’t operate your business lean and mean, you will find it hard to survive. This fact is causing more and more owner operators and fleet owners to find a good balance between efficient and cool, in regards to their trucks. And such is the case for Ron Jones.
Ron, who is now 56 years old, learned how to drive a truck in the Army. After graduating from high school in 1972, he went into the Army and got stationed in Germany. For two years, he drove a truck for the Army, pulling all sorts of trailers with an IHC tractor. In 1974, he left the Army - he loved Germany, but he was done with the Army. When he returned home to Topeka, he ran a small truck for a furniture store until he turned 21 and got his commercial license.
Driving for a company called Chip Carriers, a contract carrier for Frito Lay, Ron always kept his eyes open for other opportunities. Two years later, after applying for an inside job at the local Good-Year plant, Ron left trucking. He thought this was just too good of an opportunity to pass up, but it didn’t take long for him to realize that he had made a mistake. He couldn’t stand being “stuck” inside. After only eight months, he tried to go back to Chip Carriers, but he had lost all of his seniority, so he decided to just go out and buy his first truck - a used 1973 IHC cabover with a shiny 290 Cummins.
Ron and his new truck leased on with Tally Freightways, where he stayed for eight years. While there, he owned several trucks (he even had two at a time for awhile), including a brand new 1985 Kenworth W900 with a flat top that he bought from Clint’s mentor Phil Cooper at the KW dealer in Kansas City. In 1986, Ron switched to Ohse Meats, running reefers, for ten years. In 1996, he put all of his trucks on at RPS, which eventually became FedEx. Today, he has eight trucks there, including four Peterbilts that he
recently bought from Clint. Two of these Petes are 387s with 475 Cats and two stacks, and the other two are 389s with an aero package (one of them being the truck featured here).
Wanting a cool long hood truck, but also wanting to improve the fuel mileage, Ron chose a new 2011 Peterbilt 389 with an aero package, which includes extra fairings, side extenders, a special visor and aerodynamic mirrors. Ron also opted for no vertical stacks, choosing instead a weed-burner system. The truck also has a 550 Cat which, coupled with the truck’s aerodynamic package, is getting great mileage. Ron’s drivers love the long hood, and he likes the extra fuel savings. It’s the best of both worlds. Clint said it best when, referring to Ron’s new rig, he said, “Everyone is just pushing for fuel mileage, and us die-hard truck nuts are just pushin’ back!”
Some might look at this truck and think that it’s just another plain white truck. Yes, it is just white, but it is by no means plain. Clint ordered the truck with a shorter wheelbase, a car-hauler front axle on air, the Platinum interior package, and all of the other goodies available. After the truck came in, Clint and his crew powder-coated the fuel tanks white and then installed a set of Clint’s half fenders with hidden brackets.
Yes, at first glance, this is just another white truck – but take a closer look. Clint thought it would be a good idea for his readers to imagine their paint scheme on a truck like this - in fact, this month, he invites readers to color their paint scheme onto these pictures and imagine what an efficient truck, for you, would look like. It will probably look better than you think. And, given all the new regulations, it will probably be what you are going to have to eventually get anyway. So, SmartWay or smarter way? You decide. For Ron Jones, it was a no-brainer!
~ If you would like Clint Moore to order and/or build you a new custom truck, contact him at Kansas City Peterbilt via e-mail at clintmoore@kcpete.com or call him at (913) 484-7768. You can also visit his website at www.custombilt4.com and check out pictures of other custom trucks he has built.